How to see London’s landmarks in one day with kids in tow: One day London itinerary for families on their first city break to London.
This summer, we had the chance to spend a day in London with kids, an opportunity that fill me with joy (I adore London, it’s such a fantastic city for kids!) but also a little bit of apprehension.
There is do much to see and do in London, so many ways to go about planning a day there, I could not narrow down what to prioritize!
As I went through my mental list of things to do in London with kids, I kept going back and forth: should we plan one main activity as a focal point, maybe the London Eye or the Tower of London?
Should we get a bus tour to get an overview?
Should we go to a museum?
I made plans and un-made plans several times and eventually we came to a couple of decisions:
- We would take no tours, leaving the day as relaxed and open as possible
- We would prioritise seeing the city, rather than a child friendly attraction that just happens to be in London (Warner Bros and Harry Potters’ World – we’ll go next time!)
- Our one day in London would try and touch on a few different aspects of London, so the kids could get a taste of how varied and wonderful the city is!
With these ideas in mind, I crafted an itinerary for a day in London that I am happy to report was a huge success!
This is exactly how we went about it. This is our one day in London with kids itinerary as it just happened last week and our recommended one day London itinerary for families. All photos are my own.
See also >>> how to plan a trip o London with kids: our tips
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Table of Contents
One day in London itinerary for families at a glance
What we saw:
In a day, we managed to see (the definitions are mine, it’s how I think about the different aspects of London):
- Grand London, aka London’s landmarks, official buildings, monuments etc
- Fun London, aka shops, restaurants, street performers, etc
- Relaxing London: parks and playgrounds
How we got around:
On foot and by tube (tips for tickets at the bottom of this post)
Where we stayed:
In cheap and cheerful Holiday Inn Express in Hammersmith, which was basic but excellent in terms of location, cleanliness of the room and breakfast (huge buffet, varied, great price, tons of families)
One day London itinerary with kids stop 1: Buckingham Palace and the changing of the Guards
We started our day in London taking the tube to Hyde Park Corner and walking towards Buckingham Palace.
Getting off at Hyde Park meant we could start the day with a nice walk along Constitution Hill, a nice green area, and stretch our legs without putting too much strain on the kids.
We got to this area at about 10 -10.15 which meant we were there at quite a busy time.
The changing of the guards in front of Buckingham Palace was about to start and you could see many people heading there, following out exact walking route.
Despite the crowds, this was good start. The park is cute, you can easily escape people and you get to Buckingham palace in a matter of minutes.
Once you get to the palace, there is no risk of missing it: the crowds waiting for the changing of the guards are huge!
People are absolutely everywhere: think a sea of people anywhere you can think of that is even remotely in view of the palace, kids in strollers or on dads’ shoulders, people with cameras, umbrellas against the sun.. clearly, watching the changing of the guards here is as popular as ever!
The police has the area well patrolled and organized so, despite the masses of people, it is still possible to cross the square and go on with your day.
Top tip – the best spot to see the changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace: if you want to see the changing of the guards, go at least half an hour early and try to get a seat high up in the small park on the left hand side of the palace (left hand as you stand in front, looking at it). We found this was the best vantage point but you need to be fast as it’s popular! Of course if you can get close to the railings you are even closer but in that case, go even earlier or you won’t be able to secure a spot.
Since the kids had never seen the palace and the guards in high uniform, we spent a bit of time puttering around here.
However, the sun was so strong and the wait so long, we decided we would move away from the main area and this turned out to be best decision!
As we walked towards Westminster, our next stop, we passed by the guards’ barracks and we saw their brass band as they got ready for the changing of shift!
We could see them really well, we managed to take wonderful photos and the brass band music was so upbeat and contagious, the mood of all the bystanders got a real boost, with giggles and smiles all around.
I highly recommend this stop!
Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben
A short walk got us to out next stop of this ‘Grand London’ itinerary: Westminster Abbey and, nearby, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
Since we only had one day in London and it happened to be a wonderful sunny one, we decided to only see these sites from the outside.
If you are staying longer and budget allows, however, you can enter and even take a tour (I did years ago and the Abbey is beautiful).
With kids the age as ours we decided it wasn’t a priority, but we did look into the tickets which are:
To compensate the lack of tour, we made sure to tell the kids about these places.
We explained that Westminster Abbey is where the Royals get crowned, where the Royal Weddings happen and also where Royal funerals take place, the Abbey being the most important in the Kingdom.
About the Houses of Parliament, we explained how the UK operates as a constitutional Monarchy and what this means in terms of the role of the King / Queen, the Parliament, voting rights and so on.
We also told them stories about Big Ben, the famous clocktower with its distinctive chime!
Fun fact: did you know Big Ben is not actually called Big Ben? This is just a nickname of its great bell, now applied to the whole tower: since 2012, its’ real name is the Elizabeth Tower ( to honour HM Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee)
The London Eye
The London Eye is the iconic panoramic Ferris wheel on the river Thames, one of London’s most famous landmarks and a fantastic vantage point to catch views of the city.
We went up the London Eye years ago and loved it so much, we even think of going back up this time.
Eventually we didn’t. however, it truly is a wonderful thing to do so if budget allows and you are not afraid of heights, I recommend you go!
If you prefer not to, you can just do like we did: walk across the river for photos of both the Houses of Parliament form across the water and the London Eye.
Top tip: from here, you can also hop on a river cruise. This is something we have done in the past and loved. If you want to keep the walking to a minimum, you can add the cruise at this point of your itinerary and see the other landmarks later in the day, more briefly. It taking a river cruise, have a loot at >>> this one <<<
The Thames Cruise doesn’t take long, it is a wonderful way to see London from the water, the Thames being so significant to the city, and a fantastic way to get little legs to rest!
10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden
As lunchtime was starting to approach, we decided to walk towards the area of Coven Garden, to then have a meal there or in nearby Chinatown.
On the way, we stopped at:
- The Guards’ museum, to take photos of the guards on horses
- Downing Street, which you can see from outside a gate.
- Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Columns. This was a big of a disappointment as unfortunately restoration work meant large parts of the square were cordoned off.
However there, the columns was there and so were the big lions, climbed, as in good old London tradition, by troves of kids!
Covent Garden is always a super fun stop with kids and a great place for lunch. This is the part of this London one day itinerary I call ‘fun London’!
As I was craving ramen, we didn’t stop here this time but between Brigits’ Bakery, Sushi Samba, Balthazar, Wagamama and a million other, you won’t be short of kid friendly places for lunch!
Top tip: if your kids want to experience the Hard Rock Cafe, you can go there for lunch. It is right on Piccadilly Circus that you can reach from Covent Garden with a short walk!
In our case, we decided to have lunch in Chinatown instead and went for a lovely Japanese meal in Machiya.
Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus
Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus are places kids usually love as they have all the buzz and excitement of the big city, plus shops that are basically a child’s dream!
Here you have the M&M’s store, the Lego store, you start getting a glimpse of London’s famous theater and you have more lights and big city vibes than a kid can dream of!
This is an intense area and if you are looking for quiet and mellow, it is not for you!
But it is quintessentially London and usually great fun for kids.
Good to know: if your kids love shopping, it is worth walking up Regents’ Street and then up to Oxford Circus. If you do this, you won’t have time to do anything else but shopping loving families will have a great time!
If you do, keep an eye out for Haley’s’ Toy Store and the iconic entrance and alternative vibe of Carnaby Street.
Hyde Park
After all this, we were ready to get into the next and last part of our one day in London itinerary: relaxing London!
To rest our legs and to get away from the crowds, we decided to head back to Hyde Park. If you prefer not to walk, you can take the tube here.
Our choice fell on Hyde park for a few reasons:
- It is one of the most famous parks in London, so it felt fitting to have it as part of this first trip
- Hyde Park has a beautiful pond (the Serpentine) with ducks, swans and pedal boats for rent
- From Hyde Park, you can see the Royal Albert Hall, one of London’s main landmarks
- In the Hyde Park green are you have Kensington Gardens, with the Peter Pan statue and the wonderful Princess Diana memorial playground.
We were very tired at this point, yet we had some steam left and we decided to walk home (not a great decision, took an hour! But you can take the tube easily) and passed by Kensington.
Kensington is a wonderful area, packed with shops as well as beautiful architecture.
You can pass by it and pop into a few shops or indulge in one of the many dessert and gelato places that dot this elegant area.
If you can, the Ampersand hotel Afternoon Tea for kids is in Kensington and the fabulous St Ermin Hotel is also here – a great place for a kid friendly afternoon tea as well as a great hotel for families!
Head to Heathrow for airport dinner and flight
Our day in London was packed with things and felt long and satisfying but quickly came to an end!
We had dinner in the fun Wondertree (amazing good and amazing value for kids!) and said goodbye to beautiful London, en route to Dublin.
How to get around London with kids for this one day in London itinerary
I recommend to visit London mixing tube and walking.
The tube in London works really well and covers all the areas we visited on this day. However, the cost of single tickets adds up fast!
For the best value, we found it was worth getting Oyster cards, the rechargeable London Transit Card, and ask at the ticket window to apply the ‘young visitors discount’
This allowed our kids to travel for very little.
For us parents the Oyster card also worked great: the cost of the car is easily offset by even just a couple of trips on the tube and makes travel exceptionally convenient if you also use the tube to go to Heathrow Airport.
In terms of walking, we clocked in over 30,0000 steps in one day so if you have small kids to are not used to longs walk (I am from Rome, so I definitely am!), getting the tube between some of these landmarks and then back to the hotel is definitely best.
Need to know: London is reasonably stroller friendly as you walk its streets but the London tube is hard with strollers. Only some of the stops are fully accessible and, as you can imagine in such a busy city, the tube can get packed. Expect to fold the stroller and travel as light as you can.
Money matters for one day in London
We were able to spend a full day in London without withdrawing any cash. While we had some form the ATM at the airport, we had no reason to ever use it as bank cards are widely accepted and very common.
I hope you enjoyed following us along this one day in London itinerary and our experience helped you plan your own!
Safe travels!
